Why Does God Have the Right to Judge Us?

Judges have been in the news recently. The most controversial ruling is the 5 to 4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that our nation’s healthcare plan is legally valid. According to a New York Times/CBS poll, more than half of Americans believe the decision was based on the personal or political views of the justices rather than the constitution. The result is that only 41% of Americans trust the Court to do their job without partiality. This decay of trust can’t help but further weaken our nation’s stability, for if anything is fundamental to a society, it is the assurance that its judges will do what is just. For that reason, expect even greater debate and scrutiny when the next justice is nominated to the Court. Americans will want to be convinced that he or she is fully qualified for the task.

But, then, we want to know the same thing about God, don’t we? Before we put our lives in His hands and let Him determine our destiny, we want to be sure He’s qualified to do so and that He’ll always be fair. So let’s ask the question: What gives God the right to judge us? And how can we be certain that His rulings will always be fair? In reading my Bible, I have found 4 answers to that question:

He is our Creator. To qualify as judge, the first thing a person needs is authority. Supreme Court Justices derive their authority from our Constitution, which they promise to uphold. But God’s authority is based, not on a human piece of paper, but on much more authoritative grounds—His position as our Maker. As our Maker, He owns us, and as our Owner, He has the right to judge us according to His standards. Psalm 24:1 reminds us, “The earth is the LORD’s, and all it contains, the world, and all who dwell in it.” Everything in this world belongs to God—the ground on which we walk, the food that we eat, the air that we breathe. Even our bodies belong to Him because He made them and gives us life. For that reason, we are accountable to Him for all things. As Psalm 100:2 points out, “Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”

He is impartial. Because God is perfect and complete and not dependent on anyone else for His life and happiness, there is nothing with which we can ever hope to bribe Him. Nor do we have to worry that He will favor someone over us because of their power, position, popularity or intelligence. For who can give to God anything He didn’t first give to us? All that we have and ever hope to be is a gift from Him. He is therefore not a respecter of persons. Nor is He ever guilty of favoritism. This is the reason for Paul’s command in Colossians 3:24-25, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.”

He is all-knowing. Justices Roberts, Scalia, Breyer, and Kennedy are brilliant human beings. But they can be wrong because they can only see the short-term impact of their decisions. They can also be fooled because they can only judge what they see on the surface. Whereas Hebrews 4:13 says there is nothing hidden from God’s sight, but “all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” Furthermore, the Lord understands the consequences of all His rulings for generations to come. Acts 15:18 declares, “Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.”

He is never cruel. Severe? Yes! Cruel? Never! Take babies, for example. Some time ago, a mother came to me nervous and asking me to baptize her newborn son. When I asked her why, she said, “Because if anything happens to him, I want to make sure he goes to heaven!” So I showed her from the Bible that she didn’t need to worry about that. After all, if we human beings are righteous enough not to punish children for their crimes, how can we think that the Judge of all the earth would be less merciful? God holds us accountable for what we know (“To whom much is given, much will be required.” Luke 12:48), but for the one who knows nothing about sin, there is no accountability. They’re exempt from judgment. That’s why, speaking of little children, Jesus said, “Of such is the kingdom of God,” indicating that what babies receive from God is not judgment but love, because they’re too small to be accountable for their actions. So even though we urge parents to dedicate their children to God, we wait until they can understand their need of salvation to baptize them as believers.

Nor is it babies only who are shown God’s mercy. It’s all of us! Remember Jonah? Jonah fled to Tarshish because he didn’t want to preach to the Ninevites. So God put pressure on him. “Preach to the Ninevites or drown in the sea.” So Jonah gave in and preached to the Ninevites. But he wasn’t happy about it because the entire city immediately repented and was spared God’s judgment. That made Jonah mad because he didn’t like the Ninevites. Chapter 4 says, “But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the LORD, “O, LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.”

God’s anger isn’t like ours. When we get angry, it’s often quick and explosive with little warning or self-control. We say, “Enough is enough,” and BOOM! We blow up at those around us with little thought about the fallout. The news is filled with sad stories like the article about the father who became frustrated while toilet training his little boy. What did he do? He upended him in a moment of anger and deposited him headfirst in the toilet saying, “That’ll teach you to mess your pants!” That’s human anger—quick and violent. Whereas God’s anger is patient and preceded by countless offers of divine grace to help us change.

For example, when God decided to destroy the world with water, how much time did He give the people to repent? 120 years. For 120 years, Noah not only built the ark, the Bible says he was also a preacher of righteousness, warning everyone in his generation to repent. And once more God has warned us that He will judge the world, not with water this time, but with fire. And how much warning has He given us so far? 2,000 years! Peter writes, “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

For these reasons—because of His wisdom, patience, impartiality, and authority as our Creator—only God has the right and ability to judge us. But that raises a third question I’ll answer in my next post: What should God’s justice teach us?

19 responses to “Why Does God Have the Right to Judge Us?”

There is always a woodpecker in every crowd,they try to make holes in God’s Salvation and wreck his work or ship of salvation for everyone. they make holes in the word of God and say, See there, God’s Salvation is a myth.

God is not dependent on anyone else for His happiness you say…yet again and again He declares His anger..His heartbreak..His jealousy. Sounds like His happiness is very much tied into anothers doing. He created us because He determined a need in Himself and a creation was the only way to fulfil that need. Strange indeed then that the only way to meet His need is also as you say judged to be inadequate for that need and disqualified and presumably banished for eternal separation. Not very well thought out by God was it? Or is it as Romans declares..ALL were consigned to sin so that God could be merciful on ALL. A whole new ball game opens up….sadly it is outside of most evangelicals theology so it wont be explored…

Thanks for your comment, Ian. You and I obviously don’t agree. But I appreciate your taking time to read the post and give everyone your take on it. At PFL we do take the Bible literally (unless there are figures of speech, and then we look for the literal truth being illustrated by them). Sometimes God uses anthropomorphic terms to describe Himself. Otherwise how could we hope to understand the infinite mind of God?

The Bible insists that God created humanity, not out of need, but out of love and for His pleasure. He wanted to expand His family to include an innumerable multitude of sinners saved by His grace.

Beyond that, when faced with issues I can’t resolve, I fall back on Paul’s statement in Romans 11:33-36, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them? For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.”

Thank you for your response, you also mention God giving people 120 years to repent in the time of Noah , before judging them. These were the most wicked of all people, yet in 1 Peter 3 :19 and 1 Peter 4:6 Jesus is sent to preach to them….that although they had been judged in the flesh they might live in the spirit like God.. Is this another unintelligible scripture that we have to ignore, or does God really save even wicked people after they die? As you say at the end….God does not want any one to perish but that all come to repentance…..are we offended if He does things His way?

I won’t be offended regardless of what God chooses to do. I don’t believe He is going to give people a second chance after death based on Hebrews 9:27 (“it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment.”) and Jesus’ statement in John 8:24 – “unless you believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.” However, I’ve learned to trust Him for such a long time in so many ways, that I have no trouble trusting His final judgments when it comes to the final destiny of sinners. For as Abraham said in Genesis 18:25, “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” I’m just thankful that He found me when I was lost and chose to forgive me and has given me the assurance that I am going to spend eternity with Him.

By the way, you seem to know your Bible very well. That makes it fun interacting with you. You’re right! Some evangelicals believe, based on 1 Peter 3:19, that Jesus preached to lost people in Hades after His death. I don’t. After all, what would be His purpose for doing that if, as I say, He isn’t going to give them a second chance to repent after death? Was He celebrating His victory over them? That doesn’t seem right? We don’t even let football players do that after scoring a touchdown.

I think there’s a better explanation for the difficult-to-interpret statement that “being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit, in which He (Christ) went and preached to the spirits in prison…” I look in the context for an explanation of something obscure like that. And in the context of 1 Peter chapter 1, it says of prophets like Noah, that they searched and inquired carefully to understand “what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.”

I believe 1 Peter 3:19 is emphasizing that it was the Spirit of Christ who was at work speaking through the Old Testament prophets going as far back as the days before Flood. In other words, Christ’s preaching didn’t take place in Hades after His death. Yes, the sinners from Noah’s day are still in prison today. But it was during the time of Noah that He, the Spirit of Christ, preached to those who are now imprisoned in Hell.

I know there are lot of Bible teachers who would disagree with me. They like to link those two obscure passages together – 1 Peter 3:19 and Ephesians 4:8 – and teach that after His death, Jesus rescued the righteous out of Hades and proclaimed His victory over Satan and demons while there. But I don’t believe we ought to build a doctrine on obscure passages like that. I believe there’s a better explanation for Ephesians 4:8 as well.

To sum up, I believe those who reject God’s offer of salvation (whether in the Old Testament or the New Testament) have always gone to Hades at death and the repentant have always gone directly into His presence in Heaven.

Thanks again for your comments! They keep my mind from getting lazy. Of course, to answer tough questions like that would probably consume most of the class hour in Bible college, explaining the original languages, etc. But we really don’t have the space to do that here. May Christ by His Holy Spirit impress upon your heart how much He loves you!

once again thank you for the way you answer, you are really open and fair in your rebuttals. I also don’t think God gives people a second chance, those who repent in this life are particularly blessed but it says in 1 Tim 4:10 that God is the saviour of all men ESPECIALLY those who believe, so this denial of a second chance has to do with undergoing what should have been done the first time round, which is repentance. We forget that we were baptised in a lake of fire by Jesus when we first believed, and it has had a cathartic effect on us , burning until the dross was consumed…often at great emotional cost to us. Those in Revelation who are consigned to….yes..the same lake of fire are there to experience secondly what they didn’t do the first time round…..learn how painful sin is and allow it to be burnt away in the same lake as we did. Then God really can be said to be the saviour of all men. It has been good sharing with you, may the God of all encouragement so encourage you that you thoroughly deserve the epithet “well done good and faithful servant.” God bless you……

Thanks again for your comments, Ian! I couldn’t tell from your last post if you believe in a literal lake of fire where the unrighteous are eternally punished and, as Revelation 14:11 says, “the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night.” Your statement sounds like you believe in a type of purgatory where souls are cleansed of their sins after death. Forgive me if I’ve read more into what you wrote than you actually meant.

As for God being the Savior of all men, who can deny that? He has saved me from dying in more than one automobile accident. He saved us from frightening situations on the mission field. He saved both my wife and daughter from dying of cancer. He saved us from financial ruin when I lost my job and my wife’s medical bills skyrocketed to more than $50,000. And He saves each one of us by giving us time to repent, instead of immediately casting us into hell because of our sins. He is the Savior of all men in a temporal sense, during this lifetime. But He is especially the Savior of those believe, in that we will enjoy His forgiveness and grace forever.

On a different topic, however, do you mind if I ask where you learned the Scriptures? I’m interested because you’ve quoted verses that are unfamiliar to many believers.

Hello again, been away for a bit……”Purgatory” is the only way I can see that justice is meted out , where you actually pay a price for what you have done which doesn’t negate the sacrifice of Jesus . He was tasked with saving the human race yet on the face of it He will eternally go down as a failure..as it would appear most do not make it . If He died for ALL men..if He paid the price for ALL sin, that should be it..whether it is appropriated or not. Believers are especially blessed as they can work out their repentances in this life in their lake of fire, unbelievers will be utterly shocked at the end as to what their life has left them with, and with wailing and gnashing of teeth they will undergo the purging of their wrong attitudes. Here our translators let us down with words like “forever and ever” you cannot have one eternity followed by another! Yet the term trips off our tongue and we don’t even think about it. the word is “an age followed by another age” Old age follows on from middle age, we know when old age finishes but find it hard to work out where one moves into another.
My scripture knowledge has been self taught, drawing from many individuals and then lying awake night after night calling out to God for understanding.
God bless you and your family today

Thanks for your kind words, Ian! I remember many nights calling out to God as you describe, and I remember it involving a great deal of inner turmoil and spiritual pain.

So I would remind you what the Angel Gabriel said to Joseph, “You shall call His name Jesus because He will save His people from their sins.” Matt. 1:21 That one sentence makes it clear that Jesus is a complete Savior and He, not we, is the One responsible for our salvation. For whoever comes to Him in humble childlike faith, He saves completely.

He saves us from the penalty of sin. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says the Father made Him (Jesus) who “knew no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” That was also Jesus’ final assurance to us as He died upon the Cross, “It is finished!” In other words, the work of salvation is complete. There is nothing more we must do except commit our lives by faith into His safe keeping.

Other verses that assure of this are 1 John 1:7, “the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.” (No need for future purging of our sin after death if we have accepted the finality of His atonement for us on the Cross.) In fact, to say that Jesus’ death on the Cross wasn’t enough to atone for our salvation demeans the blood of Christ. 1 John 5:10-12 – “Whoever does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning His Son. And this is the testimony, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

The Bible says He also saves us from the power of sin. Romans 5:11 and 14 says, “Reckon yourselves dead to sin but alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord…For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” The power to overcome sin’s power comes from the Holy Spirit whom He gives to everyone who believes.

Finally, the Bible says that one day He will save us from the presence of sin, that these mortal bodies will be transformed into glorious new bodies like His own, so that we no longer have any desire to sin. “We know that when He appears, we will be like Him for we will see Him just as He is.” 1 John 3:3

If you would like me to provide any other verses on this topic, I’d be happy to do so.

In summary, let me assure you that no one goes to hell because of his many sins. Nor do we need to pay a future penalty for our sins in purgatory, for Jesus already paid for every sin of every person on earth, except one – there is only one sin that will not be forgiven, and that is rejecting the gracious work of Jesus upon the Cross for us and refusing to accept His offer of salvation. So I would encourage you, if you’ve never done so before, to believe in the power of the Cross, to trust Jesus as your Savior, and to commit your eternal destiny into His hands. For He promised that whoever comes to Him, He will never cast out or turn them away. John 6:37

“For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 4:8-9

“Therefore He (Jesus) is also able to save to the uttermost all those who come to God through Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25

Hello Gary
Thank you for your continued responses, I hope I do not take away from your normal duties. I have a real problem over the “Christian” idea of hell. The words hades and sheol are often translated as hell yet both are seen as just storage places of the dead and not as our mediaeval place of eternal punishment. Jesus did talk about a character called Lazarus who ended up in “Abrahams bosom” (ie a blessed place) and the rich man ending up in torments, this is often cited to prove Jesus taught about hell, yet it is obviously a parable, with the interesting fact that the rich man was clothed in purple and fine linen..no name ..just his clothes…look up where these clothes are first mentioned and you see they are the clothes of the high priest…..Lazarus in Hebrew is Eleazer (which means one who God helps) the story then takes on a vastly different meaning of the priests neglecting their role, indulging themselves and leaving the people to starve, leaving God to step in to rescue His people. Rev 20:10 reads ..the devil will be thrown into the lake of fire where he will be tormented for ever and ever (that one again) it actually reads for an age followed by another age..that word tormented is “basanidzo” which derives from “basanos” which means a touch stone, which is a black stone used by refiners to check on the purity of gold as it is being refined , the torment is the process of stepping the heat up to purify the gold…. so is this scripture saying that little by little even the devil is refined back to purity..surely not! Our theology wont let us ever accept that option. The last thing for now is that God commands me to forgive my enemies , on pain of not being forgiven myself, yet apparently He doesn’t forgive His enemies…. ever!….surely we cant operate a higher degree of forgiveness than God!
God bless you again..

Thanks, Ian! We clearly disagree about the afterlife. So I simply pray for the Spirit of Christ to lead you in your studies, that you might find Jesus to be as wonderful as I have. Jesus is the key to everything. He said more about hell and eternal torment than anyone else, as a loving warning to those who do not yet believe in Him, that we should turn from our sin, trust Him to forgive us, and live a life of repentance.

I believe if you fully embrace the plain teaching of the Bible about Jesus as Lord of heaven and earth, you will be born again and no longer fear the fire of hell and have to re-explain what the Scriptures teach so plainly. Keep it simple when it comes to reading and interpreting the Bible. Satan is the spirit of confusion, whereas the Spirit of God is always clear and straightforward in His teaching. I believe what you need is the assurance of your salvation, the absolute certainty that you are going to live forever in heaven with Jesus. That comes from simple childlike faith in His Word.

I believe the teachings you are proposing are so complex and difficult to arrive at that no child could ever hope to understand them. And yet, Jesus said that it was necessary to come to Him in simple childlike faith. So if the truth is not simple enough for a child to understand and accept, it is probably isn’t the truth.

Historic Christianity teaches that there is a heaven to gain and a hell to escape, and that those two things can be done by casting all our hopes and cares and thoughts and fears upon Jesus, the only Savior of this world, who is Himself God in human flesh. I pray that this Christmas season will be a time for you to look back at and celebrate that you accepted the simple truths about Jesus, trusted Him for your forgiveness, and were born again.

May God fill you with the clear knowledge of His truth and give you the peace and joy that passes all understanding!

My Dad died without ever expressing a belief in Jesus, many have told me, He might have accepted Jesus while He was unconscious, but just suppose He didn’t , how do we even know this is a possibility?. The person who taught me how to behave in the world, how to respect others be polite and respect their feelings and property , the one who taught me to be law abiding, the one who gave me a bedrock of decency to build from. EVERY DAY he is being tormented because he didn’t accept Jesus..He is judged for that..but not for the good things he did , how unfair is that. And the same God who is orchestrating his torment then asks me to worship him..He has got a nerve! I have forgiven my enemies seemingly for far greater things than doubts about the existence of Jesus , for these reasons I have had to agonise over the scriptures about “hell”, and I started to see that a lot of the “teachings” are hearsay and do not seem to render the scriptures fairly. When I point these out I am shouted down , or told I have a minority view , I am told the majority accept it this way so it must be right! Well there are more catholics in the world than protestants, so praying to Mary must be right then!
Who is going to tell the Pakistani parents of those children who were shot today that because they are from a false religion they have all gone to hell to be tormented as well and unless they repent the parents will join them in the same horror…..this doctrine is so heartless, I know you will throw at me “wont the Lord of this world do right” and God judges us according to the light we have, the second one isn’t in the scriptures but is often used as a face saver, even though in the Psalms David says He was born in sin, Romans says there is none who are righteous, and that would include tiny babies as well. Romans does say that God consigned all men to sin (whether under the law or gentiles) so He could have mercy on all (Rom 11:32) Is His mercy heaven for the righteous and eternal torments for the unrighteous, that is what you have to conclude from your theology, my understanding leads me a different route. By taking this route I have been vilified , accused of having a demon , of being a false teacher and finally dismissed from church with disgrace, it would have been gratifying to know this is exactly what Jesus said would happen to His followers, if the process had not been so hurtful. Thank you for your all your concerns, I genuinely believe I am born again, I also genuinely believe that doctrine doesn’t save anybody, what does is that moment when a human spirit knows an awesome loving spirit is holding out a welcome to come home…and chooses to accept…..

Ian, I am truly sorry for all the heartache you’ve suffered. I’ve suffered a great deal of pain and rejection myself. So I hate to see you or anyone else to suffer like that. All I can do is urge you not to turn away from the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for He is truly the God of all comfort who will one day wipe away every tear from the eyes of those who love Him. In fact, even now His Spirit is our Comforter in our heartaches and trials.

As for the final destiny of other sinners, I make no judgments about anyone else. I do want to be faithful to the Scriptures, which tell us that we were all born in sin, separated from God, and in need of a Savior. Otherwise why would the Father have asked His Son to suffer and die for us? But only God can make final judgments. I’m broken and sinful like everyone else with very little understanding of the spiritual journey others are traveling.

But these are complex issues we are discussing – too complex to answer in a few short paragraphs. The Gospel is simple enough for a child to understand. Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again three days later, giving eternal life to everyone who believes in Him. But the painful struggles of the human heart are not simple. We are “fearfully and wonderfully made” and no one fully understands the human heart except God Himself.

So the best thing I can do for you, Ian, or anyone else for that matter, is to pray for you. I’ve been praying for you since you first commented on our blog, and I promise I will continue to do so. And if you’re ever in Shelton, Washington, and can stop by and visit us, please do. I’d love to meet you in person.

Thanks for your comments, Ian! I believe the DNA altering is a Hollywood idea or something you find in popular culture. There is nothing stated about it in the Bible. Read Genesis 6 through 8. As for giving mankind 120 years to repent, it displayed something both about mankind and God. It shows the patience of God. Read 2 Peter 3. And it also shows the rebellion of mankind, something we see all around us today as people reject the truth of God’s Word and His right to rule over us. As for unbelievers not knowing sin, Romans 1 tells us that everyone has at one point recognized the existence and majesty of the Creator, but has rejected Him and chosen other items to worship. So that no one is innocent in His sight. Ultimately, of course, the question isn’t about people in Noah’s day or people in distant lands who haven’t heard the gospel. It’s about you and me who have heard. How will we respond to the truth? And will we continue sending missionaries to places like Papua New Guinea to learn their languages and tell them the good news about Jesus. That’s what Principles for Life is all about.

You said god gave them 120 years to repent, before flooding everyone to death. If god knows the future, and knew they weren’t going to repent, what was the point of letting them live another 120 years? LOL (Sorry what you said makes no sense to me) and also I thought he killed everyone because they were altering DNA by mating giants with humans. So in that case, there is no repenting about it. That is untolerable in god’s eyes. So what is this 120 years for that you’re talking about? I understand if god exists he would live outside of time, but that doesn’t mean he is unable to do something instantly does it? Also you say he doesn’t judge those who don’t know sin. There are UNBELIEVERS out there who don’t know sin. So does that mean they aren’t judged? How can you know something you don’t believe in.

If god was truly good he would never set up the fall of man, predestine people to hell, have an elect, and laugh at people’s calamity. He also wouldn’t send demons on people that he takes away the Holy Spirit from. How does that make him just? What kind of father waits until HIS OWN children reaches the full measure of his sins? Just so he could punish them and get glory out of them?!

I pray that you will come to know the love of God in Christ. Then you wouldn’t feel the need or bitterness to judge our gracious Creator. Remember, every time you use logic to find fault with God, you are using the gift of reason He gave you to criticize Him. But how can our finite minds possibly take into account the infinite factors God when He makes a decision. He takes into account its impact on every creature and event. God has never said that this is the best of all possible worlds. That world is yet to come which this world is preparing us for by testing our faith and love for God. Please love and trust Him. Why perish when you can be forgiven and saved?

Dr. & Mrs. Gary A. Schwarz

Gary and Cheryl are founders of Principles for Life Ministries. They have been happily married for 44 years, working side-by-side as pastor and wife in several Bible-believing churches and also as missionary teachers in Romania and Central America. They have two beautiful Christian daughters, Heidi and Rebecca, who are both married to good Christian men, Ben and Aaron. Ben and Heidi lead a full-time ministry called Chasing Ebenezer. Aaron is an IT specialist. He and Rebecca have a 6-year old son named Malcolm and a 3-year old daughter named Moriah. (3 John 4) We all live in the Portland, Oregon area.